Chairman Pombo: Doing the Right Thing

Last Sunday, the New York Times in its lead editorial did a total hatchet job on House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-CA). We won’t even dignify it by linking to it. He was being pilloried for standing up to the enviros and actually doing something about fixing the supply side of the energy equation for the first time in 30 years. The Times hates to see that, apparently.

However, this is consistent with their position (noted last month) urging higher gasoline taxes on the American public. Only the Times could urge higher taxes on $3/gallon gasoline. Talk about out of touch. We certainly support conservation, but manufacturers are at the forefront of energy conservation. As one of our small manufacturers said at our Board meeting last month, “Nothing like $14 natural gas [per million Btu] to push conservation.” But this is a rock around the necks of every US manufacturer who’s trying to compete in the stiffest global competition the world has ever seen, the highest natural gas prices in the world. Does the Times really think that driving our manufacturing base out of the country and choking people who have to heat their homes is a compassionate and reasonable approach to energy policy? We sure don’t. Chairman Pombo is right, battling heroically against near-impossible odds. The Times, as is often the case, is wrong.

Please click here to tell your Senators and Members of Congress to get cracking on increasing the domestic supply of energy. We will conserve and be more efficient and will find new sources of energy, but while that’s happening, we need a break on prices. Time’s a-wastin’.